Tire.



J. A. BOWDEN.

- TIRE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 7, 1908.

978,549, q Patented Dec, 13, 1910.

2 SEEMS-SHEET 1.

. J. A. BOWDBN.

TIRE. 4

APPLIQATION FILED FEB. 7, 1908.

Pafiented Dec. 13, 1910.

2 BHB ETS-BHEBT 2.

I form of stud and its engaging means.

UNITED snares PATENT OFFICE.

TUNIUS A. BOWDEN, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

TIRE.

Specification of'Letters Patent. 1 'Patented Dec, 13, 191() Applicationfiled February 7, 1908. Serial No. 414,827.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J UNJUS A. Bowman, a citizen'of'the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and btate ofCalifornia, have invented a new and 'useful Tire, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to tires either solid or pneumatic, andparticularly to the tread portion thereof. and the object of theinvention is to provide a tire having projections or studs deta'chablysecured in'the tread portion'so that they may be readily detached whenworn and renewed byinserting fresh projections.

The projections increase the traetive qualities of the tire, preventskidding and minimize punctures, in addition to greatlyprolongingthelife of the tire by reason of their being readily renewed by any person,no tools or special skill being required for renewing them. Theprojections ale o promote the elastic qualities of the tires as theprojections are themselves preferably formed of an elastic substance.

The. actannpanying drawings illustrate several forms of the invention,and referring thereto :-Figure 1 is a sectional view through a solidtire and portion of the .riin

to which it is attached, the view being taken on line a:.r Fig. 2. Fig.2 is a plan view of a portion of a solid tire constructed in accordancewith my invention. Fig. 3 is a sectional view sl'iowing apneuniatic tireas constructed with my invention, the body of the tirebeingof ahomogeneous structure. Fig. -l isa view Sit \ilar to Fig. 3:3, showingthe body of the tire formed of a plurality of layers, the outermostlayer being vulcanized or otherwise secured to the tire, and beingprovided with the studs 01'. projections. Fig. 5 is a sectional view ofthe outer layer removed from the body of the tire. Fig. 6 is a sectionalview showing a modified form of studand its engaging means. Fig. 7 is aview similar to Fig. (5, showing another form of stud and its engagingmeans. Fig. 8 is a view. similar to Fig. 6, showing another Fig. 9 is adetail view showing still another form of stud. Fig. 10 is a sectionalview showing a tread portion provided with the studs,'

a tire, showing another form' of projection.

Fig. 15 is anenlarged sectiona view on line 0:z Fig. '14. F 1g. -16'is aview sinnssl lar to Fig. 14, showing a slight modification thereof. Fig.17 is an enlarged sectional View on line te -mi" Fig. 16.

In the form shown in Fig. 1, 1 designates a solid tire, the treadportion of which is provided with a series of. pockets 2, each pockethaving anannular groove 3. Projections' or studs 4, shown in Fig. 2, areinserted in the pockets 2, each stud projecting into the tire 1 andprojecting above the face thereof and being detaehably held in place,

the stud having an annular rib 5 which is received in the annular groove3. The studs 1 may preferably be formed of an elastic material, such asrubber.

In Fig. 3 the pockets 2 are provided with a receptacle or lmlng which 15preferably metallic and which conforms to the shape of the pockets,which lining is preferably vulcanized or otherwise permanently securedin the tread portion of the tire. In this figure the tire is shown as apneumatic tire 7. 'The linings (3 receive the studs 4;. and hold themfirmly in place, yet permit the studs to be readily removed therefrom-when desired for renewal. The linings 6 also strengthen and reinforcethe tire and alsominimize puncture as their metallic substance preventsthe entrance-of'tacks or other sharp things which may come in contactwith them.

In operation, when a stud is under compression, its portion within thelining is caused to swell and more firmly grip in its seat than if thelinings were not employed, because the material of the tire would yieldas the stud swelled, but by employing the linings,they do not yield andthus the stud when compressed firmly grips in its seat.v

In Fig. 3 the body of the tire? is constructed of one mass of rubberthroughout.

In Fig. 4 the body of the tire consists of v secured to'the tire 7 threelayers, an outer layer 8, an intermediate layer 9, and an inner layer10, the outer layer 8 holding the studs, l.

Fig. 5 shows the outer layer 8 with its studs, before the layer has beenvulcanized or otherwise secured in place.

Fig. 6v showsanother form'in which the linings 6 are purely cylindrical,the studs 4* conforming thereto and being held therein by theirfriction. In this form the linings 6 are vulcanized or otherwisepermanently Fig. 7 shows still another form in which the studs 4 areprovided with annular grooves 43", which grooves are engaged by annularribs 6 formed in the linings, the aockets in the tire 7 COHfOI'mIII tothe contour of the linings, and the linings being vulcanized orotherwise permanently secured to the tire.

In the form shown in Fig. 8, the studs a have anannular flange 5 fortheir lower ends which is received in an annular groove 6 formed in thelining 7, and the tire 8 is shaped to conform to the contour of thelinings, the latter being vulcanized or otherwise secured to the tire.

Fig. 9 shows a stud i in detail, the upper end of which is provided witha flange 5.

This stud when shaped as shown will fit the forms shown in Figs. 6 or11. I

The flange 5 seals the joint between the receptacle and tire andprevents the entrance of foreign matter. The flange also enlarges theseat for the stud without "punched with holes to receive the upperportion of the studs or linings thereof, while the intermediate strip 12is .punched with holes of a larger diameter to receive the lowerportions of the studs or linings, and the inner strip 13 isiinperforate. By then cementing, or otherwise securing the three 0layers permanently together, cup shaped pockets are formed havingenlarged lower portions to receive thellinings 14. "In this form theplugs are removed, but their shape will be readily understood as thelowerportion of the stud should be made to conform A, tot-he contour ofthe linings.- This form of tread portion may be secured to the body ofthe tire in any desired manner.

f- Fig. 11 shows. another form in which the linings 6 are provided withinternal screw threads'7, and "the plug 4 may be screwed thereinto. vFig. 12 shows aform in which the linings 6 are frusto-conicalas shown,their smaller diameter being at the top, and the lower portion of theplug 1 ,is made-'frusto-conical to conform to the shape of the lining 6while the upper portion of the plug 4 may be cylindrical as shown.

F ig'. 1 1 shows another modification in which the projection comprisesa bar 20 which extends transversely of the tread, the bar having on itslower face a series of legs 21 which are detachably retained in linings22 embedded in the tire The projcctidns 20 are spaced apart to formspaces 2st be-.

tween them, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 1,, and

the upper face of'each projection 20 is flat, as indicated in Fig. 15.The linings 22 may 'be dispensed with if desired, although it is Ipreferred to employ them. In this form, the projection being of greatersize has greater strength and the tire presents a flatter tread,

inasmuch as each projection covers much greater area than the smallprojections here- .tofore mentioned. Each projection may readily bedetached, when desired, as the legs 21 are detachably retained in thelinings 22.

Fig. 16 shows a further modification in which the bars 20 arearrangedclose together, there being no spaces between them, and theupperfaceof each bar 20 is provided with a plurality of studs orprojections 25, formed preferably integrally with the bar 20. The bar 20has legs 21, as shown in Fig. -17, which are detachably seated.in'linings 22-. In this form a large number of studs 25 are providedwithout weakening the tire to such an extent as if they were directlyembedded in the tread, and as the bar 21 carries a large number of studs25, the renewal of studs 25 is accomplished much quicker as a largenumber of them are removed or applied whenever a single bar 21 isremoved or attached.

It is an essential feature of the present invention that the studs areinserted into the tire from the outside and are so held that they can beremoved outwardly so that any stud can be removed from the tire withoutdisturbing the body of the the. To enable such removal it is necessarythat the lateral grip between the stud and the recess should bereleasable by merely pulling on the stud.

In the form shown in Fig. (i thisreleasability follows from thefrictional nature of the grip in connection with the elastic nature ofthe stud and in those forms. above described wherein the stud and therecess are made of variant diameter along the longitudinal axistheflreleasability is secured by forming the stud of elastic material soas to enable it to be laterally compressible and by restricting thevariation in iameterso that the necessary lateral compressionfor.release can be effected without disruption of the stud. The recessesbeing closed at the bottom and the material of the stud beingelastically plastic under pressure it follows that the effect ofpressure on the stud is to press the frictionally engaging parts of thestud and recess into tighter engagement so that the stronger thepressure the stronger will be the grip. In any case the engagementbetween the stud and the recess may be considered as a frictionalengagement even when the friction is increased by making the parts ofvariant diameter to remove frictional engagement being herein used indistinction from a positive interlock such as would prevent withdrawalor outward de tachment of the stud.

\Vhat I claim is I 1. A tire having a plurality of recesses, a cup likereceptacle permanently secured in each recess, havin variant internaldiameters, and a stud of yielding material removably seated in eachrecess and projectmg therefrom, the portion of each stud within thereceptacle correspondlng in its external diameter with the internaldiameter of the receptacle.

2. In a rubber tire, a metal cup vulcanized into its tread portion, saidcup having an annular exterior recess at its top and a rubber studconforming in shape with the interior of said cup and detachably seatedtherein.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a rubber stud for the tread oftires, said stud having an annular recess and an annular flangeimmediately below the recess, said flange being a continuation of thebottom of the stud.

l. As a new article of manufacture, a metal cup-like receptacle forvulcanizing into the tread of a rubber tire, said receptacle havinganannular exterior recess at its top and having an annular interior recessimmediately below said exterior recess and approximately in line withthe bottom of said cup.

As a new article of manufacture, a rub-. ber vehicle tire having aseries 0f metal cupshaving shouldered sides vulcanized in its outerface, a detachable rubber stud in each cup engaging said shoulderedsides, the topof said stud projecting beyondthe top of said cup and thelower portion of said stud being shaped to register with the innerportion of said cup, and said cup having a metal bottom. I

6. A renewable wearing portion for tires comprising a series of metalcups'and detachable rubber studs in the cups, said cupsbeing vulcanizedinto the outer portion of the tire, said cups having inner shoulderedsides, said studs being shaped to register and engage within said cupsand pro ecting therefrom. Y

7. In a vehicle tire, means for holding a detachable tread portionthereto comprising metal cups having inner shouldered sides, said cupsbeing vulcanized into the outer portion of the tire, said tread portionconsisting of individual rubber studs and said studs having their lowerportions shaped to register with and engage within said cups andprojecting therefrom.

S. In a vehicle tire, means for holding a detachable treadportionthereto comprising metal cups having inner shouldered sides, said cupsbeing vulcanized into the outer portion of the tire, said tread portionconsisting of individual rubber studs and said,

studs having their lower portions shaped to register with and engagewithin saidcup's f and projecting therefrom, said cups having metalbottoms, and each of said studs being removable outwardly andindepe'ndentlyof the others.

.9, In a rubber vehicle tire, a series of metal cups vulcanized. intoits outer portion, said cups having inner shouldered sides, a series ofdetachable rubberstuds shaped to conform to the inner portion of saidcups, said cups having metal bottoms and flanged,

tops and said studs being seated in said cups .and projecting beyond theouter surface of pendently detachable rubber studs, said studs beingsecured to the outer surface of the tire by means comprising metal cupshaving metal bottoms and flanged tops vul canizedinto the tire andhaving inner shouldered sides, said studs shaped to register within saidcups andseated therein and'projecting therefrom, and said studs being,-

singly removable from without.

Iii-testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at. Los Angeles,California, this 29th day of January, 1908.

J'UNIUs A. Bowman.

In presence of? 'G'EORGI'Z T. llaonmcv, Fran K L. Gnaimn'.

